Device used to collect coins



Feb. 2 I926. 1,571,383

J. L. STOWERS DEVICE USED TOCOLLEGT COINS Filed March 25, 1924 IN VEN TOR. J. A fOW/f I a? I ZTTORNEYS.

Patented Feb. 2, 1926.

UNITED STATES JOHN LOUIS srownns, or HABANA, CUBA.

DEVICE USED TO COLLECT COINS.

Application filed March 25, 1924. Serial No. 701,836.

T 0 all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, JOHN Lonrs STOWERS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Habana, Cuba, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Devices :Usedto Collect Coins, of which the following is a specification.

This invention refers to certain improvements in devices used to collect coins, being adaptable to player pianos and other musical instruments and more especially to electrically operatedinstruments of the kind, wherein the coins serve to operate the instrument as these are placed one by one into the slot.

An object of this invention is to provide a substantial variation in devices of this kind, which up to the present, control the starting device of the instrument, through the fall or weight of the coin as it is placed into the slot, and which require a costly setting or installation, and which do not in any manner prevent frauds. In such devices the use of a disk of a previously known weight is sufficient -to start the instrument, whereas this is prevented by the device of my invention.

My invention prevents these as well as other defects, and can be usedin connection with electric pianos and other instruments which are started by a pushing rod and without the necessity of varying the construction ofthe instrument, and may be installed by anyone without the employment of an expert.

An object of my invention, therefore, is to provide a novel device that produces the starting of the playing mechanism of the instrument by the introduction of a coin of a given diameter, and which serves as a con necting medium between the guiding elements and the coin collecting receiver, the coin acting as an element to push the starting rodof the instrument. By the employment of my device, the startingof the instrument cannot be produced by the introduction of a coin of less diameter thanthe one for which the device is constructed.

In the drawing:

Fig. lis atop viewof the device,the object of this invention.

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the device.

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of'the device.

Fig. 1 is a section online 44 of Fig. 3.

Fig.5 is a section online 5-5 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 6 is a section on line 5-5 ofFig. 1,

:Fig. 8 is a fragmental front elevationof position of parts from said piano with saiddeviee.

The deviceconsists of a box divided into two compartments, upper andlower, 1 and 2, joined together by a hinge 2, and secured to each other by a lock 3, the :lower compartrne-nt 2 havinga bottom, and being denominated in this specification and in the claims as thecoin receiver, and the upper compartment 1, being open atthetop and presenting at its front a vertical slot't, adapted to. permit the passageiof the coin of a determined diameter.

In the .upper compartment 1, there is a vertical partition 5, with oneof its faces almost on the level with an edge of the slot 4, said partition extending tothe top ,edge of the receiver 2 and endingin front of the back partition of the compartment. 1. On the face of the partition?) and near .to-the slot 4 are placed two tong members which; hold the coin and guide ittoward the coin receiver, one of them, the driving member, consisting of a plate '6, which hangs pivoted at 7 to the partition 5 and which at-the inner edge of the lower end presents an angular recess, which forms a narrow extension 6.

The other member, which is the driven member, is an angular .plate 17, pivoted at 18 to thepartitiono with its shorterbranch downward anddirected toward the platefi, and presenting in its longer branch a pro;- jecting ear 2.4: with an object that will be explained later. On this .member rests one end of aleafspring .19 withits opposite end fixed to the partition 5. Both members ti and 17 are engaged-together byaconnecting member 21fixedto plate 6 and slidable ,ina standard 22 fastened to theplate 17, :the member 21having at its free end a collar 23 with an. adjusting screw toma-intain it in position. 1

Plate 6 presents on its inner face a recess 6' of sufficient width to permit the passage of a coin of a predetermined diameter -insertable through the'slot 4, which said recess begins atthe saidslot and has its lower edge rounded asindicated at .4 to facilitate the slidingofthe coin-and toguide' thesame I downward, theinnenedge of the end. ofxthe shorter branch of member 17 having a recess 17 in line with,-and completing, the inner edge of the recess 6'.

The described connection is operated by a short horizontal axle 9, which passes through an opening at the side of compartment 1 and extends inward ending outerly in a crank 10 which plays between stops 11 and 12 fixed outerly to said side. On the extreme end of the axle 9, which projects within compartment 1 a collar 13 is fixed by a screw 1 1 and said collar has an extension or finger 13' continuously in contact with an angular stem 15 secured at right angles to the plate 6, and resting against the base of this stem, is the free end of a spring 16 wound on a bracket 16' fixed to the partition 5, which spring biases the plate 6 toward the front wall of the compartment 1.

A stop 20 arrests the movement of the driven member 17 toward the driving memher 6.

The ear 24; is permanently engaged with one end of an angular rod 25, which passes through the back wall of compartment- 1 and through a block 28 fixed on the inside of said wall, this rod being secured by a brace 27 to the pushing rod 26 usual for causing operation of instruments of this kind, and said rod is admitted inside of compartment 1 through a slot 1, provided in its back wall.

The operation of this device as explained, is as follows Assume a piano 1 of the usual type with the described device attached to the transom under the keyboard, as illustrated in Figs. 7 and 8, the attachment rod 25 connected in the manner previously shown to the pushing rod 26 which controls the starting device of the piano, and the attachment rod passing through the slot 1 in compartment 1, then it will be obvious that no special change is necessary in the usual structure of the piano.

Under these conditions, assume that acoin 29 is placed into the slot 4. This coin will slide into the guide recess 6, and, if it is of the predetermined diameter, it will be arrested at the end of this channel, between the outer edge of the same and the recess 17 of member 17 as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 5.

Having thus introduced the coin, the crank 10, which is normally in permanent contact with the stop 11 due to the action of the spring 16, which forces the stem 15 against the finger 13, is turned toward the stop 12, as seen in the dotted line position of Fig. 3. The finger 13 will then drive the rod 15 fixed in plate 6, against the tension of the spring 16 and the engaging plate 6 will be moved toward the plate 17. The com 29 will then form a connecting element between the members 6 and 17 sinceits diameter exactly fills the space between the short branchof the plate 17 and the extension of the plate 6 at the end of the channel 6, and consequently the plate 17 will be moved backward against the slight tension of the spring 19.

, On the handle 10 engaging with the stop 12, the parts will have taken the position shown in Fig. 6, thus forcing the ear 2 1 to push the rod 25 jointly with the rod 26 and operating the piano starter and causing the piano'to play.

In this operation the members 6 and 17 have been sufliciently separated for the coin 29 to fall by gravity into the coin receiver 2.

On releasing the handle 10, the tension of the spring 16 will force the plate 6 to its former position, carrying with it the plate 17, due to the connection 21.

It will be easily understood that any coin which can pass through the slot 1, but has not a large enough diameter to be stopped at the end of the channel 6, will slide freely through this channel and fall into the coin collector without permitting the starting of the instrument, because the coin will not make a coupling engagement between the members 6 and 17 so that operation of the handle 10 only moves the plate 6 toward the plate 17.

The clearance between the members 6 and 17 can be adjusted to adapt the device to coins of various diameters, by changing the position of the collar 23 on the member 21, as may be easily understood.

It is evident that within the principles of the construction described above many changes can be made without departing from the substantial idea of the invention which is now claimed.

I claim:

,l. A coin controlled starter, coi'nprising, a casing, a coin slot in the casing, a driving and a driven men'lber in the casing, a spacer rod interconnecting the members, a machine starter rod extending into the casing and bearing against the driven member, a coin chute formed in the drive member in registry with the coin slot, the chute being obliquely terminated at its inner end, a slotted part on the driven member cooperating with the inner end of the chute for retaining a coin of predetermined size between the driving and driven members, a crank rod extending into the casing, a cam on the inner end of the rod, a spring pressed pin on the drive member and in contact with the cam, rocking of the crank causing the driving member to move the driven member through the intermediary of a cam interposed between the members at the lower end of the chute, the driving and driven mem bers being of a form to release the interposed coin on combined movement.

2. A coin controlled starter, comprising, a casing, a coin slot in the casing, a driving and a driven member in the casing, a spacer rod interconnecting the members, a mach ne starter rod extending into the casing and bearing against the driven member, a coin chute formed in the drive member in registry with the coin slot, the chute being obliquely terminated at its inner end, a slotted part on the driven member cooperating with the inner end of the chute for retaining a coin of predetermined size between the driving and driven members, the driving and driven members being pivoted to the casing at their upper ends only, the spacer rod being fixed to one member, and slidably connected in one direction only to the other member.

3. A coin controlled starter, comprising, a casing, a coin slot in the casing, a driving and a driven member in the casing, a spacer rod interconnecting the members, a machine starter rod extending into the casing and bearing against the driven member, a coin chute formed in the drive member in registry with the coin slot, the chute being obliquely terminated at its inner end, a slotted part on the driven member cooperating with the inner end of the chute for retaining a coin of predetermined size between the driving and driven members, a crank rod extending into the casing, a cam on the inner end of the rod, a spring pressed pin on the drive member and in contact with the cam, rocking of the crank causing the driving member to move the driven memher through the intermediary of a cam interposed between the members at the lower end of the chute, the driving and driven memhers being of a form to release the iuterposed coin on combined movement, the driving and driven members being pivoted to the casing at their upper ends only, the spacer rod being fixed to one member and slidably connected in one direction only to t he other member.

4;. A coin controlled starter, comprising, a casing, a coin slot. in the casing, a driving and a driven member in the casing, a spacer rod interconnecting the members, a machine starter rod extending into the casing and bearing against the driven member, a coin chute formed in the drive member in registry with the coin slot, the chute being obliquely terminated at its inner end, a slotted part on the driven member cooperating with the inner end of the chute for retaining a coin of predetermined size between the driving and driven members, the driving and driven members being pivoted to the casing at their upper ends only, the spacer rod being fixed to one member, and slidably connected in one direction only to the other member, the slidable connection between the driving and driven members being in the same direction as that of the drive, through the interposed coin, of the driving member on the driven member.

5. A coin controlled starter, comprising, a casing,- a coin slot in the casing, a driving and a driven member in the casing, a spacer rod interconnecting the members, a machine starter rod extending into the casing and bearing against the driven member, a coin chute formed in the drive member in registry with the coin slot, the chute being obliquely terminated at its innerend, a slotted part on the driven member cooperating with the inner end of the chute for retaining a coin of predetermined size be tween. the driving and driven members, a crank rod extending into the casing, a cam on the inner end of the rod, a spring pressed pin on the drive member and in contact with the cam, rocking of the crank causing the driving member to move the driven member through the intermediary of a cam interposed between the members at the lower end of the chute, the driving and driven members being of a form to release the interposed coin on combined movements, the driving and driven members being pivoted to the casii'ig at their upper ends only, the spaced rod being fixed to one member and slidably connected in one direction only to the other member, and the slidahle connection between the driving and driven members being in the same direction as that of the drive, through the interposed coin, ol" the driving member on the driven member.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

JOHN LOUIS STOWERS. 

